The present invention relates to fiber optic connectors and, more particularly, to hermaphroditic fiber optic connectors for use in an assembly for aligning mating ends of optical fibers in a pair of fiber optic cables.
In recent years, fiber optic communication lines made up of parallel optically-conductive fibers arranged to form a flexible cable for conveying light from one location to another have come into increasing use. The applications have varied, although one particularly significant application has been conveying data from one location to another by modulating a light source with data to be transmitted at one end of the cable and recovering the data at the other end of the cable with a photosensitive detector. Since the data is conveyed by a medium not subject to radio frequency interference or detection, fiber optic communication lines are particularly well adapted for applications requiring a high degree of security like those found in the data processing field.
With the increasing use of fiber optic communication lines, the need has developed for connectors capable of joining segments of cables with minimum detriment to the optical transmission path. It has been found that precise axial and angular alignment between a pair of fiber optic cables can be achieved by terminating the optical fibers of the cables in connector pin assemblies in such a way that the optical fibers are concentrically aligned with respect to the outer dimension of the connector pins. When a pair of connector pins are concentrically aligned, the ultimate result is that the optical fibers will likewise be angularly and axially aligned for efficient light transfer.
While the connector art has been developing, the primary focus has been upon connectors having male and female components. More recently, there has been a growing interest in, and recognition of the need for, developing a suitable hermaphroditic fiber optic connector for use in an assembly including a second identical hermaphroditic fiber optic connector for aligning mating ends of optical fibers in a pair of fiber optic cables. Understandably, this interest has developed out of an appreciation for the fact that hermaphroditic connectors would eliminate the problem of assuring proper selection of both male and female connectors for a particular assembly as well as an appreciation for the commensurately reduced manufacturing and assembly costs. More particularly, there has been an increasing awareness of the need for development of a multichannel hermaphroditic fiber optic connector for use with single fiber per channel strengthened cables. Additionally, a hermaphroditic fiber optic connector has been sought which exhibits low loss characteristics just as with prior art fiber optic connectors.
Although the advantages of a hermaphroditic fiber optic connector have been appreciated, the need has remained for a practical embodiment adapted for use in an assembly including a second identical embodiment. Prior art connectors have apparently failed to disclose or suggest a hermaphroditic connector of the type contemplated. This is perhaps best illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,870,396 and 3,398,388 which perhaps represent some of the more pertinent prior art. Prior art connectors such as those disclosed in these patents nevertheless have only a remote relationship at best to a hermaphroditic fiber optic connector of the type contemplated. Accordingly, a practical hermaphroditic fiber optic connector embodiment has never before been available even though the problems associated with assemblies using male and female connectors have long been known and appreciated.
As a result, a hermaphroditic fiber optic connector has been needed for use in an assembly including a second identical hermaphroditic fiber optic connector for aligning mating ends of at least one pair of optical fibers in a pair of fiber optic cables.